State of the industry

[Lew Stringer]

Fellow comics creator Jamie Smart and me were recently interviewed by The Independent about the current state of children's comics in the UK. It mainly focused on The Phoenix, and comics in newsagents, so my comments about the increasing number of graphic novels and self-published comics were cut. Nevertheless, I think we kept things upbeat and positive whilst being realistic. Have a read of it at the Independent's website...

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 35736.html

[Shiner]

Well written and fair. The Phoenix deserves the spotlight. It's not all bad at the newsagents as other mainstays from yesteryear survive, i.e. 2000AD, Judge Dredd and Commando, as well as a regular fix of Marvel British titles.

[tony ingram]

Well written and fair. The Phoenix deserves the spotlight. It's not all bad at the newsagents as other mainstays from yesteryear survive, i.e. 2000AD, Judge Dredd and Commando, as well as a regular fix of Marvel British titles.

And also Titan's Doctor Who comic, and their DC reprint line.

[Lew Stringer]

Well written and fair. The Phoenix deserves the spotlight. It's not all bad at the newsagents as other mainstays from yesteryear survive, i.e. 2000AD, Judge Dredd and Commando, as well as a regular fix of Marvel British titles.

And also Titan's Doctor Who comic, and their DC reprint line.

Those comics weren't included because the remit for the article/interview was solely to focus on comics for young children, (and basically a promo piece for The Phoenix) but I think there's definitely room for a feature looking at the bigger picture. I would have preferred that they'd retained my comments about children's graphic novels but apparently the focus was only on what's available in newsagents and supermarkets.

I'd also mentioned the rise in self-published comics being sold at the numerous conventions around the country, but that was also edited out. Perhaps one day we'll see a mainstream feature looking at the broader perspective to show that British comics are still out there if we remove the blinkers that only focus on the newsagent's shelf.

[starscape]

For self-published, I really miss Comics International.